This Week Two Road Games For League Leading Cougars

Cougar team in first place, MWC Race Continues this week on the road. (Photo by Mark Philbrick/BYU Photo)

With a one-game advantage in the MWC standings, defending regular season champs BYU (17-6, 8-2) continues league competition playing at Wyoming (16-6, 7-3) on Thurs., Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Then on Sat., Feb. 17 they play at CSU (7-16, 2-9) in a 2 p.m. tip off.

Complete Broadcast Plans

On TV - Neither of this week's games will be broadcast on any television channel.

On the internet - Both of this weeks games will have live audio streaming on BYU Radio. Veteran broadcaster Jay Monsen will call the action. To listen log on to: http://www.byuradio.org/streaming

Live stats - fans can follow the game action via stats by clicking on:

The Cougar team ended their run in this year's Preseason WNIT with a disappointing 58-84 loss to No. 16 Baylor on Thurs. Nov. 16. BYU had advanced to the the second round after a 73-50 home victory over Idaho State on Nov. 10 and then a come from behind 55-52 upset victory over No. 4 Stanford. Dani Kubik Wright was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Cougars Team Summary

After compiling the best season record in school history (26-6), making their seventh postseason NCAA Championships appearance and clinching the 2006 MWC Regular Season Champion crown, the BYU team looks to take that success and winning attitude into the 2006-07 year.

BYU returns a nucleus of four starters and five letterwinners that will make this year's squad tough to beat during its non-conference and league schedules.

Once again the Cougars should finish at the top of the MWC standings, leading the way to an eighth appearance in the NCAA Championships and advancing further in that national tournament.

2006-07 Season Highlights and Notables

TEAM

-- The Cougars non-conference road record finished at 4-4.

-- The team improved to 13-1 when leading at the half.

-- BYU is 13-3 when outrebounding opponents. (Outrebounded Utah 38-35 on 01/27/07, and on 12/30/06 at Oregon, 37-29 but loss both games.

-- The 11 turnovers BYU had vs. UNLV on 01/20/07 were the lowest of the year. They had 13 vs. CSU on 01/18/07.

-- The nine blocks at SDSU on 01/25/07 are a new team high.

-- The Cougars have had three players scoring in double figures in seven games. BYU has won all but two (Baylor, Oregon) of those games.

-- Seven times this season, the Cougars have had two players scoring in double figures, the most recent, at SDSU on 01/25/07).

-- The 79 points scored against Weber State are the most scored by BYU this year and the (13) three-point goals, are a new team high.

-- The Cougars picked up season best in 3-point field goal percentage .542 (13-24) in the Weber State game on 12/14/06.

-- To date, BYU has shot over 50 percent from the field in two games (vs. Weber State .542 on 12/14/06 and vs. UCR .521 on 12/20/06)

-- The Cougars have had four players score in double figures three times this year: (vs. SCU, @ Harvard, and @ UVSC).

-- In the game at home vs. Santa Clara University on 11/22/06, the .839 (26-31) free throw percentage was the best for the team in regular season games. In league games, they shot .800 (16-20) vs. TCU on 02/01/07 for the highest charity stripe percentage in league games to date.

-- The 55 total rebounds grabbed in the game vs. CSUN on 12/09/06 are a new season high for the team.

-- The 1,313 fans in attendance at the UNM game on 02/10/07 are the second highest home total of the season and the highest against a league opponent.

-- The 12 steals in the game vs. AF on 02/08/07 were the second best this season and the best against an MWC foe. In the opening game of the year vs. ISU the team had 13 steals.

PLAYER

-- Dani Wright set a new season and career high in rebounds with 15 vs. TCU on 02/01/07.

-- Dani Kubik Wright - Preseason WNIT All-Tournament Team

-- Dani Wright - In the game @ Stanford - played a total of 35 minutes, the most minutes played in her college career.

Mallary Gillespie has scored in double figures in a total of 15 games this season.

l Dani Wright has scored in double figures in 15 games including seven of 10 MWC games.

Cougar Double Doubles 06-07

l Dani Wright picked up her fourth season and fifth career double double with the 21 points and 11 rebounds vs. AF on 02/08/07.

l Lauren Riley recorded her second double double of the season and third career with 18 points and 11 rebounds vs. UNM on 02/10/07.

Long Range Gillespie

l Mallary Gillespie continues to get hot from three point range. In two of the last three games she has picked up the majority of her points from behind the arc. In the game vs. TCU on 02/01/07 she scored 15 of her team and game high 21 points from three-point land. She also tallied 18 of her team high 24 points vs. UNM on 02/10/07 from behind the arc.

l Gillespie scored a team and game high 16 vs. CSU on 01/18/07 scoring 12 of those from three-point range.

l In the home league game vs. UNLV on 01/20/07, she had another game and team high performance with 17 points, 15 of which were from behind the arc.

Injury Update -

Freshman point guard Haley Hall is out for the rest of the season. She tore her ACL in her left knee at the New Mexico State game on 12/06/06.

2005-06 Season Review

-- Best record in school history 26-6

-- Tallied an impressive 13-1 record on the road

-- MWC Regular Season Crown with a 13-3 record

-- The squad advanced to the MWC Championship game before losing to Utah, 60-84

-- Made seventh appearance in NCAA Championships, seeded seventh, the highest seed for the Cougar program. The team advanced to the Round of 32 with 67-62 victory over Iowa, then lost to Oklahoma 70-86

-- Breaks into the national polls after going 15-1 to begin the season. Its first appearance came the week of Jan. 16 when both the AP Poll and the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll ranked the team at the No. 23 spot. The team moved as high as No. 16 in the USAToday/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll, the highest of the year and the highest ever in the program's history. BYU finished the season ranked 20th in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll.

2005-06 MWC Honors/All-America Citations

Co-Player of the Year

Ambrosia Anderson

First Team All- Mountain West Conference

Ambrosia Anderson

Second Team All- Mountain West Conference

Dani Kubik

Honorable Mention All- Mountain West Conference

Mallary Gillespie

Melinda Johnsen

Jennie Keele

Coach of the Year

Jeff Judkins

Honorable Mention All- America Citations

Ambrosia Anderson - AP Women's All-America Basketball Team

Ambrosia Anderson - WBCA and Eastman Kodak Company

Head Coach - Jeff Judkins

Overall Record:120-58

2006-07: 17-6, 8-2

2006 MWC Coach of the Year Jeff Judkins begins his sixth year as head coach of the women's basketball program. Prior to heading up the women's program, he served one year (1999-2000) as Director of Basketball Operations for the BYU men's team. In 2000 he became an assistant coach on the women's team.

Last season under Judkins, the Cougars compiled their best finish in school history with a 26-6 record, clinched their first MWC regular season title since 1992 and received a no. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, the highest seed for any BYU program.

For the first time since the 2002-03 season, the team and its 13-1 record to start the year broke into the women's basketball collegiate polls, ranked No. 23 by the AP Poll and the USA Today/Espn/WBCA Coaches Poll. They would rank as high as 18 and 16 in the two respective polls, finishing the year at No. 20. Last season Judkins picked up his 100th win, a 69-67 victory over CSU on Mar. 2, the same time the team clinched the league's regular season title.

Under Judkins tutelage, the women's basketball program has had consistent success with four postseason appearances including three NCAA Championships, guiding the team to its first ever Sweet Sixteen finish in 2002. In 2005, the 19-11 team played in the first round of the WNIT.

Judkins has also coached two All-Americans in Erin Thorn and Ambrosia Anderson. Both have gone on to play in the WNBA for the New York Liberty. Thorn has been with the team for the past four years while Anderson just completed her first year playing professionally.

The longtime University of Utah coach and player came to Provo with a proven record of success dating back to his high school days at Highland HS in Salt Lake City. An all-state selection in basketball, football and baseball, Judkins went on to play for the University of Utah from 1974-78.

While playing at Utah, Judkins helped lead the Utes to one conference championship and two berths in the NCAA tournament. He was a second-team academic All-American and three-time District VII academic selection. He also earned three first team All-WAC honors and was a member of the 1977 United States World Games team that captured the gold medal.

Judkins also played five years in the National Basketball Association for the Boston Celtics, Portland Trailblazers, Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz. He was a second-round pick of the Celtics in 1978, the same year the Celtics selected Larry Bird with the sixth pick overall.

After his NBA career, he returned to Utah in 1989 and was an instrumental part of that program's success during his 10 years, recruiting such players as Keith Van Horn, Andre Miller, Mike Doleac, Hanno Mottola, Alex Jensen, Trent Whiting, Garner Meads, Jeff Johnsen and Britton Johnsen.

Judkins, graduated from the University of Utah in 1978 with a degree in health and physical education. He and his wife Mary Kaye are the parents of five children: Jessica (26), (married to Paul), Jordan (24), Jenna (22), Jaime, who plays on the basketball team, (19), and Jaxson (16). Jenna plays on the volleyball team at BYU.

In this week's league standings, Wyoming is in fourth place with a (7-3) league record, and are 16-6 overall. In conference games two players score in double figures led by junior forward Justyna Podziemska who averages 13.3 points and a team high 6.6 rebounds per game. Another junior forward on the team, Hanna Zavecz contributes 12.7 points and 4.0 boards a contest. The Cowgirls were picked to finish fifth in the conference in the preseason poll. At home the team has a perfect 5-0 league record with wins over UNM, SDSU, TCU, Utah and UNLV. Coach Joe Legerski is in his fourth season at the helm of the women's program.

WYOMING Probable Starters

Pos.# Name Ht Yr PPG RPG (conf. game stats)

F 05 Hanna Zavecz 6-0 Jr 12.7 4.0

F 25 Justyna Podziemska 6-2 Jr 13.3 6.6

C 33 Elizabeth Dissen 6-1 So 3.6 2.4

G 02 Jodi Bolerjack 5-9 Jr 7.5 3.9

G 12 Dominique Sisk 5-10 Jr 7.0 3.1

Stat Comparisons BYU WY (conf. game stats)

Field Goals: .435 .407

Free Throws: .601 .751

Three-Pointers: .323 .330

Points Per Game: 63.0 61.5

Rebounds Per Game: 37.8 33.9

Series Record

The series between these two teams is 42-18 favoring BYU. In Laramie, the Cowgirls have a 17-11 record.

Last Meeting

In the first league game between the two teams in Provo on 01/13/07, BYU picked up the three-point 55-52 victory on a Jennie Keele three-pointer from mid court after the game was tied at 52-52 with just over two seconds left in the contest.

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY - Ft. Collins, CO (02/17/07)

The Rams have a league record of 2-9 and are in eighth place in this week's standings. Their overall record stands at 7-16. CSU swept its series with the Air Force Academy for the two lone wins. Two players on their roster score in double figures for CSU. They are Sara Hunter who averages 13.3 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per contest. She's followed by Marilyn Moulton who contributes 10.3 points and grabs a team high 7.6 boards a game. Justine France tops the list in assists with 22 while Hunter leads in steals with a total of 17 to date. Jen Warden is in her second season at the helm of the women's program.

COLORADO STATE Probable Starters

Pos. #Name Ht Yr PPG RPG (conf. stats)

F 35 Juanise Cornell 5-10 Fr 9.3 6.9

C 51 Marilyn Moulton 6-4 Sr 10.3 7.6

G 04 Sara Hunter 5-6 Jr 13.3 4.5

G 12 Justine France 5-5 Sr 0.6 2.5

G 33 Ashley McFarland 5-10 Fr 6.9 2.0

Stat Comparisons BYU NM (conf. stats)

Field Goals: .435 .368

Free Throws: .601 .671

Three-Pointers: .323 .352

Points Per Game: 63.0 55.5

Rebounds Per Game: 37.8 34.2

Series History

The series between these two league teams stands at 44-22 in favor of BYU. When the Cougars play in Ft. Collins they have tallied a 13-14 record including last year's two-point 69-67 win that clinched BYU's regular season title.

Last Meeting

In the game played in Provo on 01/18/07, the Cougars grabbed a 69-56 victory.

Travel Plans

Team flights:

Wed. Feb. 14 - Delta flight# 4042 departs from SLC at 5:11 p.m, arriving in Denver at 6:35 p.m., then will bus over to Laramie.

q The team practices are held at the Marriott Center MWF from 11:30 a.m., to 1:30 p.m. On Tuesday's, practice is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m., and on Thursday's it is 12:30 to 3 p.m.

q Coach Judkins and players are available for interviews prior to or after their practices. All interviews are scheduled in advance. Norma Collett is the Media Director for the team and can be contacted by phone or email. She travels to all of the away games.

After these two MWC road games, BYU will play one more on the road, on Thurs., Feb. 21 in Las Vegas in a 7 p.m. PST tip off. Then on Sat., Feb. 24 the Cougars host SDSU in the Marriott Center. The game begins at 2 p.m. BYU's final home league game is scheduled for Wed., Feb. 28 at 8.p.m., when instate rival and MWC foe Utah comes to the Marriott Center. That game will air live on CSTV.